Week 96 (03/25/2013) - Challenging week and upcoming Easter (and cooking)!

Hola familia!

How is everyone today? I love you all! I wanted to tell you all thanks for your letters, love, and emails! I can't wait to get my package! Time is flying so fast, but it is going so well!!!

This week we had some challenges with our investigators: some were sick, some were out of town and some just had other problems. We only had 4 at church yesterday! We need all of your prayers to help them, so keep praying for them! But we are still really excited! We are going to be doing a lot to help them and get them to church this next week! It will be great!

Happy Birthday Anslee! Tell her Happy Birthday from me! I love that little girl!

Next birthday is Kalee's and I will be home for it! Woo! What are we going to do? Kalee, I say we go camping or something - what do you say? haha or maybe a bar-b-que? haha whatever works! let me know if you want me to do anything so I can start imagining the food in my mind of how I'm going to make it! haha

So guess what?! Our new branch president invited us to dinner at his house this next Sunday for Easter! His wife told me I had to cook...haha no complaints there! I still love cooking and I'm excited to do it! I just don't know what to cook yet! haha I will have to think about it this week! But Happy Easter this next Sunday! Buy some cadburry eggs for me! I love those things! Maybe you could buy a big bag and freeze them for me to eat when I get home?? haha

I have been thinking a lot this last week about my Savior and what He has done for me. This week to come is the rememberance of His last week of life. Thursday was when he gave the sacrament. That same night, He suffered and was tortured and killed the next day. When he died, he opened the work for the spirits in the spirit world! How amazing is the plan of God! And then on Sunday, He was ressurected to break the bands of death! How important and amazing was this sacrifice! If it wasn't for Him, we would be trapped forever in sin - we wouldn't be able to escape! God gave us the escape. He just asks us to follow Him and repent to recieve forgiveness. I love the atonement! In this coming week think of our Savior's sacrifice for us and apply it just a little more to your lives!

I love you all! I hope that you are all doing awesome! Remember I love you all and that I am here for you all! Stay close!!!

Love,
Braden

Week 95 (03/18/2013) - Baptism of Familia Abregos!

Baptism of Familia Abregos

Braden and his companion

Hey everyone!

How is everyone doing?? I have had a great week here and it sounds like everyone else is doing well too! I love you all! I attached a picture of the Familia Abregos baptism! They are so excited! I love it! They are happy and well! They finally were able to get married and they are doing great!

This week, we have been working with a lot of the same people! We had a bunch of people at church again and they are progressing well!! Thank you so much for all your prayers! They are helping them out so much! I have seen so many miracles in these past months and I know that God has his hand in every part of it! It is not just that the gospel helps people, it changes people. I know that it is so powerful! God does exist and he loves each of us! He is preparing each of us in our own specific way to become better - we just need to be humble to accept his preparation! The scriptures guide us, sincere prayer gives us revelation and comfort. I know that our investigators that are doing these things will feel the gospel! There is no trick, there is no secret, there is just the Spirit. If we can teach with the Spirit, they accept and they grow and change! I love it!

Apart from that, we have been working well with the branch! It is fun to see the growth! This week 85 people came to church! That is more than we have ever had in Gotera (in my time here at least) and I loved to see that our little chapel was filled up to the back wall! (My companion and I were standing outside the doors because it was too full :) The Lord is the cause of this! He touches the hearts of so many! and I am so grateful that I can be apart of it here! It's awesome!

I am grateful to be a missionary at this time! It is the best! Thanks for all your love! Tell James hi for me! And Thomas as well in a week or so??? Anyway, just send my love to all the good old Utahns up there!

I love you all!!!

Love,
Braden

Week 94 (03/11/2013) - Lots of baptisms and investigators

Hey family!

How is everyone doing today?? I love you all!! So, this has been an awesome week! As I mentioned last week, God has blessed us a lot with families to teach that are really positive! We have been working with all of them and they are all progressing! They read, they go to church and they love the gospel! 

We also found a really cool guy this week!!! It was actually a bit of a miracle!! We were walking out of an appointment with a family that we had been teaching for a few weeks (a family that I haven't mentioned to you all) but they had just told us that they didn't want us to come back anymore and they didn't want to listen to us. It is always really sad when you hear that because they aren't just rejecting us, they are also rejecting the gospel and Christ...but anyway, we were walking out of the appointment and feeling a little bit sad we were on our way home (it was about 10 minutes before nine) and we felt like we should talk to a guy that was standing on the side of the road! We went over to him and introduced ourselves and he said that he was actually an active member in San Miguel! He talked to us for a second and said that his wife was visiting her brother and that is why he was in our area. Well, his wife came out and we talked for a bit and then, right before going, I asked if there was anyone they knew that we could visit! She said, "Yeah! You can visit my brother!" And so she introduced us to her brother. His name is Manuel and a few years ago he had throat cancer, he can't speak at all because they took out his vocal cords or something? Anyway, we went and visited him a couple of days later and he was really positive! He accepted to come to church and then came! And then also to be baptized! He is really humble and just amazing! To speak to us, he writes in a notebook haha but he is cool!

Anyway, the f key on my keyboard is broken so if there are random f´s everywhere, it's because of that! haha 

Also this week, we have been working a lot to help the families we have to progress and set baptismal dates! Many of them have accepted and I am excited for them! This weekend (the 16th and 17th), the Familia Abrego will be baptized and confirmed! They have waited a full year! But they are finally ready! Today they got married! (We couldn't go because it was really far away, but they are happy!) But they are excited to be baptized!!

Other than that, we are just working hard! My companion is awesome! He is really nice and a lot like me! I have been blessed with really good companions in my mission! I love it!

But anyway, I love you all!!! Have an amazing week and make sure to enjoy that wonderful spring weather! I want to go boating if possible when I get back haha...so find me a boat to use for the day! Deal?? I love you all!!!!

Love,

Braden

Week 93 (03/04/2013) - New investigators and new mission

Hola!

Les quiero mucho! Gracias por todos sus correos y su amor! 

Hey guys! I love you all! I hope that everyone has had a great week this week! This last week has been great here! We have been working with a lot of different, new families! I love it! We got a bunch of members to give us references a few weeks ago and they are giving us a lot of help. We are teaching a family called the Familia Mendoza - it is a mom and dad and their two kids (one is baptismal age!) and they are great! Then, we are also teaching the Familia Anton - its the mom and dad and one little 8 year old girl. We are also teaching a new lady and her son - the Familia Garcias! They are all so cool and so positive! I was going to send you pictures of them today, but for some reason they won't download onto the email! But maybe next week...sorry! I am excited for each of them! The Familia Abrego will be baptized on the 16th of this month and then the rest that I mentioned probably in April! It's going to be great!

So, last night I took a shower that for the first time in my whole mission, made me really, really cold! haha It was sooo cold! I felt like it had ice in it and it was great! I love cold!

I forgot to mention a cool announcement last week! Our mission is going to be split in July! It's really cool! Our mission will give 3 stakes to a new El Salvador San Salvador West Mission! It will be cool! And then our mission, El Salvador San Salvador East Mission will still be with President Glazier! It will be cool! I am excited to see how things turn out after my mission! We should have a lot more missionaries and it will be really awesome! I love missoinary work! I know that it is guided by revalation from God. I know that Christ allows us to repent and better ourselves! I love that God's plan allows us to change and come closer to Him.

I love you all! I hope that you all have an awesome week! I love you so much! Stay close to God in your prayers and scripture study! I love you all!!

Love,
Braden